Moving day: Bear family living in highway median relocated

TEMPLETON, Mass. (AP) — A portion of a Massachusetts highway was shut down while state wildlife officials moved a family of bears that had set up a den in the median.

State police shut down a stretch of Route 2 in Templeton on Thursday morning while state environmental police tranquilized the mother bear and relocated her and her cubs to a safer location in a nearby state forest.

Authorities say the bears had to be moved as a precaution to ensure their own safety as well as the safety of motorists.

Route 2 is a four-lane highway in that area and was shut down for about 45 minutes.